Registration for housing at Binghamton University has long been associated with long lines and headaches. But that may not be the case this year as the Office of Residential Life has plans to possibly move housing registration to the Internet, a jump which is not as sudden as some may first believe.
ResLife has been working on this development for the last few years, unveiling small parts of the larger project at different junctures. Last spring the incoming freshman class filled out their preference of housing communities not on a mailed-home bubble sheet, but on their own personal computers for the first time.
ResLife Director Terry Webb describes this transition as having gotten ‘a very good response.’
Though ResLife was confident enough with the housing for incoming freshmen to be processed online, a decision about housing registration later this semester for students has yet to be determined.
‘We want to make this as forgettable an experience as possible,’ Webb said, ‘Students don’t come here for a degree in housing registration.’
Chelsea Zhao, a sophomore finance major, expressed concern when asked how she felt about the possible change: ‘I’m a little skeptical, I’ve had bad experiences with online course registration when the system overloads. What if that happens for housing?’
And this concern isn’t limited to students.
According to Webb, the new system would only be introduced if ResLife and Adirondack Solutions, the company contracted to create this new registration process, are both completely confident in the quality of the software (called Housing Director) and the promise of a good experience for students.
Adirondack Solutions is a software company that works mostly for colleges, developing programs for student room assignments, judicial affairs and vehicle registration, among others. Other clients of the company include Syracuse University, University of Connecticut and Belmont University.
Though the final decision has yet to be announced, students are told not to expect any drastic changes in registration other than the move to the Internet itself. Webb insisted that the system will remain as similar to the old one as possible and that it was not a change just for the sake of change, but with the hope of improving the registration experience.
‘It would be nice not to have to wait on those long lines,’ says Alex Lapegna, a sophomore economics major. ‘It could make the process a lot easier.’
ResLife is planning on distributing more detailed and finalized information about this year’s housing registration on Feb. 23. The housing deposit of $200 is due Feb. 16.